- Title: India: Pilot Linda Finch Reaches Calcutta On Her Solo-Flight Round The World
- Date: 27th April 1997
- Summary: Linda Finch, an American woman pilot who is on a solo-flight around the world, has reached the eastern Indian metropolis of Calcutta from Karachi in Pakistan. Finch was received at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport by officials of the US consulate and representatives of the West Bengal state government on April 27 1997. With her "World Flight 1997", Finch is attempting to re-enact the round-the-world flight of Amelia Earhart, following the same route that the renowned female pilot had taken in 1937.Finch, a mother of three children, has more than 20 years experience in the acquisition, restoration, maintenance and flying of historic aircraft. She has logged more than 8,000 hours of flight time, most of it in multi-engine, vintages, warbirds and taildragger aircraft. Forty-year-old Finch took off from Oakland, California, on March 17 on her flight closely retracing the route spanning five continents, with over 30 stops in 20 countries, flown by Earhart in 1937.Finch's Lockheed Electra 10-E of 1935 vintage is only one of two such aircraft left in the world. Pratt and Whitney, sponsor of the half-a-million dollar mission, created the original Wasp engine to power the aircraft. Accompanied by navigator Peter Cousins, Finch has so far followed her original route except for a marginal detour in Africa because of some political developments there. Although "World Flight 1997" is not the first attempt at re-enacting Earhart's flight, it is the first to do so using the same make and model aircraft, with only a pilot and navigator at the controls. On July 2, 1937, Earhart and her navigator took off from Lae, New Guinea planning to reach Howland Island in the Pacific. The aeroplane and the fliers disappeared and where never found. Finch completed her journey on May 30 1997.
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- Location: INDIA CALCUTTA
- Reuters ID: LDL00126JDGKN
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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- Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
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